10 TV Shows That Blatantly Trolled Viewers

Who doesn't love a good practical joke? Even though TV studios have a million priorities while putting together a series, the creators can still find time to pull a fast one on their audience.

Sometimes, the show's writers abruptly kill off a beloved character, purely to generate controversy. Other times, they may do something that's guaranteed to annoy viewers, solely for their own amusement.

Though this kind of trolling sounds mean-spirited, there are times when it's acceptable, even necessary. When a sitcom, cartoon, or a drama becomes overhyped beyond measure, leaks are practically guaranteed, forcing the bigwigs to devise countermeasures to minimise them.

Rather than keeping hush-hush about a TV series, the powers-that-be might divulge false details to lead fans astray. Occasionally, they'll "accidentally" leak an important aspect of the plot, so die-hard advocates ignore the real spoilers.

Whether viewers were left laughing or seething, there's no question these ten TV shows had them totally fooled.

Since its early days, Star Wars has gone above and beyond to conceal pivotal plotlines. Almost nobody working on The Empire Strikes Back knew the twist revolving around Darth Vader. Little was known about Return of the Jedi's production at first, since it was filmed under the fake title, Blue Harvest.

With this in mind, Star Wars lovers should've expected the trailer for Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi to be spoiler-free.

However, nobody was ready for how disingenuous the promotions were. Even though the teaser implied the story involved Obi-Wan protecting a young Luke Skywalker, that wasn't the case. Instead, the series mainly focused on the titular Jedi safeguarding Leia Organa.

But that's not all. Obi-Wan Kenobi's trailers indicated The Grand Inquisitor would be the big bad. However, the Sith agent is disposed of in the second episode, allowing his underling, Reva, to serve as a major antagonist. Since The Grand Inquisitor has been a fan-favourite for years, it was disappointing to have the insidious force-wielder switched out for a far less compelling villain until his surprise return close towards the series finale.

In a way, it's impressive how Disney hoodwinked viewers with their misleading trailers. However, many Star Wars fans took umbrage with this fact, believing Obi-Wan Kenobi was falsely advertised.